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Legendary NASCAR announcer Barney Hall dies

Jeff Gluck and Mike Hembree
USA TODAY Sports
Barney Hall pauses for a portrait in the radio booth during a rain delay for the 2014 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Barney Hall, the Motor Racing Network anchor whose smooth voice brought NASCAR to life over radio waves for decades, died Tuesday from complications following a recent medical procedure. He was 83.

A race fan flipping through the radio dial while driving out of town didn’t need to know the frequency numbers while searching for a NASCAR broadcast. The fan simply stopped on the familiar voice of Hall, whose words came to represent stock car racing with the same force as high-horsepower engines and daredevil drivers.

Cool, calm and steady, Hall’s voice became easily identifiable with NASCAR and its events.

Hall was involved in broadcasting stock car racing for more than 50 years, many as the lead announcer. He called his first Daytona 500 on the radio in 1960 and had been a key part of MRN's broadcasts since 1970.

Though the network's tagline -- "You're listening to MRN -- the Voice of NASCAR" -- wasn't Hall's alone, it certainly described him. To racing fans, many of whom followed the sport mainly through radio broadcasts in the early days, Hall became the conduit of both vital information and tall tales, stories he would pick up in the garage area during race weekends.

Hall was a giant among the media; along with Ken Squier, his name is one of two on the NASCAR Hall of Fame's highest honor for media -- the Squier-Hall Award. He and Squier were also the first two recipients.

Hall of Fame executive director Winston Kelley called Hall "one of the greatest broadcasters ever of any sport."

"Whether you met him or not, you felt like you knew him," Kelley said. "His easy, conversational delivery made you feel like you were listening to one of your closest friends or relatives tell you a story – the story of the very NASCAR race he was describing.

"He could paint a picture that would make Picasso or Rembrandt proud and tell a story that would awe Hemingway or Twain."

In a Wednesday morning news release, NASCAR chairman Brian France said:

"The entire NASCAR family extends its condolences to the family, friends and fans of Barney Hall, a NASCAR broadcasting giant for more than 50 years. Barney’s impeccable delivery and incredible storytelling skills left an indelible mark on the sport that he so clearly loved. His legacy remains through an honor that rightly carries his name – the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence. It will remain a constant reminder of the skill and passion that Barney brought to his work.”

Hall began work at a small station in his hometown of Elkin, N.C. in 1958. His audition included reading a commercial for Sunbeam bread. A decade earlier, as a sixth-grader, he walked five miles with some friends to watch a dirt-track race in Jonesville, N.C., his first motor sports event and a moment that set the stage for what would evolve into his career.

During his first year at the Elkin station, Hall covered a race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. He carried a small tape recorder with him, remembering later that his first interview was with driver Buddy Baker.

Hall picked up a few jobs as a speedway public address announcer, and that work led to a job announcing for the still-infant radio network covering the Daytona 500. Hall was off to the races and soon became a regular on MRN.

He was a familiar sight in speedway garage areas across the country. For many of his years in racing, he carried a tape recorder and did short interviews with drivers in the days leading to races. The interviews would be used as previews or fillers during the race broadcasts.

Hall became friends with several of the leading drivers. He and David Pearson were especially close over the years. A country boy like most of them, Hall had an easy rapport with the drivers. He often could be seen dining with drivers and other team members on the road, and evening outings with other members of the MRN crew in recent years sometimes produced stories that stretched the imagination.

MRN president David Hyatt said Hall was "perhaps the most trusted reporter of his day." He also mentored many of the radio and TV broadcasters who work in the racing industry today.

"Barney Hall was the true voice of NASCAR and although his own voice has gone silent, his presence will live on in the many current motor sports broadcasters who learned at the knee of such a great storyteller," Hyatt said.

Over the past 15 or so years, as Hall continued to work as the lead announcer for most Sprint Cup races, he left the garage reporting to younger announcers, often telling friends he didn’t relate as well to the newer drivers.

Hall battled several illnesses over the past few years but remained active in NASCAR broadcasts until recently. He called his final race in July 2014 at Daytona International Speedway, though he appeared as a special contributor to broadcasts in the time since. He is survived by longtime companion Karen Carrier.

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